Leonardo, New Jersey

Leonardo is an unincorporated community in Middletown Township, Monmouth County, New Jersey. The community was named for Henry and James Leonard, the first ironmasters of New Jersey. During the Cold War, Leonardo was home to a Nike missile base, and, on 22 May 1958, six soldiers and four civilians were killed when an Ajax missile exploded at the Nike base, and the launch base was redeveloped into single-family home sites after Project Nike's shutdown in 1974.